Excavating apparatus



April 6 1926.r

EXCAVATING APPARATUS Filed July 28. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n y Hammerkn" iik 'April '6 1926.

- 1,580,001 R. H. BlcKNr-:LL

EXCAVATING APPARATUS Fileduly 28", 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. H. BICKNELI.

EACAVATING APPARATUS 5 sheets-sheet z Filed July 28. 1925 Patented Apr. 6, 1926. e

kUNITED n STATES ROBERT HENRY. BIoxNEnL, on WEs'rMINs'rnn,k LoNDoNgJENGLAND.

IExciwArINe APrARATUs.

Application sie'afmy 2s'1925. serial No, 46,638.

To all 'whom ft-may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT HENRY Bion- NELL, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at 230ld Queen Street, Iestminster, London, S. W. 1,- England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavating Apparatus (for which I have filed application in -Great Britain, No. 6,388, March 12,1924), of which the following is a specification. V- y i This invention relates to excavating apparatus designed morey particularly for the sinking of vertical or inclined shafts and/or for the boring of tunnels, of the type `wherein a tool carrying arm is universally pivoted so as to be capable of operating on any part of theworking face, and has for its object to devise simpleand robustapparatus of thistype whereby the necessary operations may loe,k rapidly and efficiently performed without the use of explosives, theinvention thus consistingin improvemei'its in .the construction and arrangement of mechanically actuated excavating apparatus'. v 1 In apparatusl of the typey to which the invention relates it has been proposed to provide a former limiting movement of the arm so as to control the cross-sectionl of the excavation.

The presentinvention consists in excavating apparatus of theY type referred: to in whichV -the arm is auton'iaticallymoved in such a manner as to cause the tool to operate on the whole of the working face. f

The invention alsoconsists in excavating apparatus of the above character in which, the movement of the arm is regulated by al former preferably placed at the back of a. spherical or other thrust blockat the base of the arm. Lk U v j i',

The invention also-consists in excavating apparatus of the above character particularly designed for shaft sinking in whichthe excavating or abrading member is fedto its work by gravity by the gradualrelease of suspension means.

The invention also consists in excavating apparatus of the above character particularly designed for tunnelling in which the excavating or abrading memberis fed to lits work by hydraulic jacks, screw, y.or other mechanical means. y Y l v y The invention further consists in excavating apparatus of the character hereinbefore referred to particularly designed for tunnelling having in combination therewith an intermittently operating shovel or scoop for removing the dbris or spoil from the floor ofthe tunnel adjacent to the working face, such scoop or shovel conveying the material toa band conveyor or other means by which it may be conveyed away from the working face. v t The invention further consists in excavat-v ing apparatus of the character hereinbefore referred'to particularly designed for shaft sinking having suction means for removing the excavated material or spoil from the bottom of the shaft. y

kThe invention still further comprises other details andA arrangements hereinafter de-v scribed or indicated.

Thev accompanying drawings illustrate more or less diagrammatically ,two forms'of apparatus in accordance with the invention. n kFigure 1 is a sectional elevation andl Figure 2 is a'v plan of parts shown in Figure 1. y, l Figure 3 isa viewon a larger scale show# ing a part shown in Figure 1 and 'Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively a side A l elevation, end'elevation. and partplan -(with parts 'reinoved'for clearness) of a modified form of apparatus in accordance with the invention. e v

In carrying my invention into effect in one convenient lmann-er as, rfor example, when producing an apparatus designed for shaft sinking, I arrange for the whole of the working parts to be ,carried by ay-steel or other cylinder or structureaof a diameter slightly less than ,thatvof the shaft to be sunk and arranged to be aligned and guided in the shaft kby means-of rollers b or other antifriction members engaging the sidesof the shaftand capable of being adjusted by suitable means for the purpose of steering or controlling the direction lof movement of the'ap-paratus as the sinking proce-eds.2

The cylinder or structure (hereinafter for brevityY termed the structure) carries an electric motor c ofsuitabfle type and powerV arranged to drive. thel whole of the machinery within the structure (except that required for raising andlowering the ,structure to or from the surface,lighting, raising the dbris'and pumping any surplus water from the shaft) and coupled to atwo'phase hydro* alternator ely which produces alternating pressure variations of the requiredfrequ'ency to operate the tool at the end of the travers 'ing armj (ashereinafter referred to) and' of sufficient capacity to avoid the necessity of stopping` the electric motor in case of emergencies.

It will be understood that the structure is provided with the necessary girders, brackets, or stifening means to produce sumcient strength and rigidity in the structure and to support the various working parts carried thereby.

There is also a cross bulkhead c beneath which is a spherical thrust block f in which is mounted the base of an arm y (herein referred to as the traversing arm) which is given a conical motion by means of a former situated above the thrust block and containing a moving member slidably engaging an extension of the traversing arm.

The former in the construction illustrated (shown in detail in Figure 3) consists of a cast iron or other rotatin0i disc h which may be varied in diameter in accordance with the size or section of the shaft, and on the face of which is a slot k in which is arranged .the sliding member z' with which the extension g of the traversing arm engages, said sliding member being coupled by means of aw connecting rod z" to a crank 2 operated by a one-tooth or other timing gear la', 7a2, the former z, being driven by worm or other gearing from the front end of the hydroalternator spindle.

The wieel 7a2 is connected with a toothed wheel 7c3 meshing with a toothed wheel 7a4 free on the former shaft and connected with a toothed wheel 7.35 meshing with a pinion 7c adapted to be rotated by the motor 7c. If wheel 7a4 is held stationary by the motor, the cross-head i will traverse the arm g in the direction of the arrow by steps at successive revolutions whereas if the motor rotates the pinion las the speed of the traversing nievement of the cross-head and the arm g will be increased or diminished according to the direction of rotation of the motor 767.

It is to be observed that by changing the position of the connecting means, namely, the extension g and the cross-head i with respect to the axis of the rotatable former and in timed relation with the rotation of the said former that the cross sectional shape of the shaft or tunnel may be varied.

The traversing arm g carries a tool which is preferably removable and which may be of the jack hammer type operated by liquid pressure variations from the hydro-alternator Vconveyed to the tool through tubes Z, Z connected flexibly together as by hollow knuckle joints and connected to the interior of the hollow traversing arm g.

The tool hammer is adapted to deliver its blows upon an abi-ader bit holder 7c which is arranged in a socket at the end of the tool, the front end of the bit holder being preferably conical and being furnished with a number of apertures into which are inserted the abrader bits k which conveniently consist of short` lengths of special steel cut directly from bars.

1n order to protect the apparatus from reaction due to the'very heavy' blows upon the abrading tool, I prefer to secure to the thrust block a plurality of radially extending arms m which are integral with or rigidly secured to the bulkhead e and which carry corruf gated or other eccentrically mounted toggle members m or other suitable buffer devices adapted to engage the sides of the shaft or tunnel, the arrangement of arms and toggles being such that the reactive forces caused by the blows of the abraders are almost wholly transmitted through such radial arms to the sides of the shaft or tunnel.

rl`he whole structure with itsl contained parts is suspended by any suitable means which will permit of its being raised and lowered as required.

For the purpose of facilitating the operation of the apparatus I prefer to retain a certain depth of water continually in the bottom of the pit and this also enables me very readily to provide for the removal of the spoil for which purpose I arrange in the upper part of the structure a centrifugal pump a or pumps adapted to be driven by suitable means and the suction pipe a of which is carried down through the apparatus and connected to the traversing arm by means of articulated joints a2, the mouth of the suction pipe being arranged at the back of the tool so that it always follows the path of the tool and in this way the abraded material and water may together be removed and raised to screens in the upper part of the apparatus, the screens separating the dbris from the water so that the latter may be returned to the pit while the dbris is raised in skips to the surface.

An air duct when necessary is laid to the back of the machine and is connected with an electrically driven exhaust fan placed near the pithead as in deep shafts or when the air is foul it may be necessary to force air down to the machine.

Further, in wet shafts any surplus water must be raised by means of pumps erected on the surface and the suction of which is carried down through the machine to a point below the bottom bulkhead.

My improved arrangement of traversing arm maybe applied with equal effect `and like advantage to tunnelling apparatus with suc-h modifications as may be necessary due to the different direction of operation Thus, for example, in the case of tunnelling apparatus an example of which is shown in Figures l to 6) I may provide hydraulic jacks 0 fixedly mounted on the shell of the apparatus and fitted with serrated or like toggles 0 that Contact directly with the sides of the tunnel, so that when the ram is forced backwards the toggles are forced into contact with the sides of the tunnel and the whole apparatus is fed forward, or other means for the purpose of positively feeding the apparatus toits work, with reverse hydraulic rams or other Varrangements for withdrawing the apparatus..

Moreover, the structure in the case oftunnelling apparatus isv preferably supported on three sets of rollers p placed reposited upon the floor of the tunnel.

Additional sets of lateral rollers or the like may also be provided for guiding the apparatus laterally or around curves.

As suction means such as are described in connection with the shaft sinking apparatus will not be suitable for the purpose of removing the dbris in the case of a tunnelling apparatus, I provide dbris removing means comprising a scoop ors-hovelg` which is adapt-ed to operate upon they dbris intermittently (being timed forthis purpbse by suitable means so as vnotto foul the traversing arm) and to convey the dbris to a band conveyor 1 or other means byV which it may be conveyed away from kthe workingface, any large pieces of rock or other' material that is required tol be removed from the working lface and that is1 not suitable for conveyance by the band conveyor being carried by' trolleys upon a light tramway that mlay be laid through the apparatus.

Furthermore, I prefer to provide a fine mesh wire screen (not shown) across the shell near the base of the traversing arm to prevent flying pieces of rock from striking themachine men and in order toprevent rock from the roof falling upon the men the plating s of the top of the structure is carried forward to within a reasonably short' distance of the working face. f Y

It will be understood that the details of construction hereinbefore given arepureiy by way of'illustration and not of limitation since 'I may vmodify the means adopted for mechanically moving the traversing arm or arms so that the arm automatically covers the whole area to be vexcavated and the various transmission'means used in connec-V tion with the apparatus, vwhether mechanical, electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic, may be modified to suit any particular requirements that miay have to be fulfilled.

Furthermore, while I have described the use of an abrading tool adapted to be operated upon by a percussive hammer actuated by hydraulic, pneumatic or other means, it will be clear that I may also vary the form and construction f tool actuatlng material to be operated upon or any conditions that may be met with.

The tool also may be operated by gaspressure generated by an internalv combustion engine or otherwise in place of the arrangements above referred to.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v l l. Excavating apparatus including a tool carrying arm, means situated at a point on the longitudinal axis of the machine for supporting the tool carrying arm for universal movement, rotary driving means, constantly radially moving meansfconnecting the driving-means with the Ytoo-l carrying arm, and means for changing the position of the connecting means with respect to the axis of the driving means to constantly change the position of the arm.

2. Excavating apparatus including a tool carrying arm, means for universally vsupportingthe inner portion of the arm at a point on the longitudinal axis of themachine, rotary driving means, means connecting the driving means with the innervend of the arm, and means .v for changing the `position of the connecting means.'` with re- 3. Excavating apparatus including a tool carrying arm,va thrust block at a point on the longitudinal axis of the machineV in which said arm vis universally mounted, a rotatable former, means for connecting the inner end ofthe arm with the former, and timing gear for altering the position of the connecting means with respect to the axis of the vformer and in timed relation with the rotation of the former to consequently change the position of the arm.

4. Excavating apparatus including a tool carrying arm, a thrust block in which said arm is universally mounted, an extension connected to the arm and projecting rearwardly of the thrust block, a rotary former provided with a transverse groove in its outer surface, a cross-head slidable in said groove and kaccommodating the extension, a

yformer during the rotation vof the former so that'the shape ofthe section to be excavated may be varied as desired.

whereof VI havel signed my In testimony name to this specification.

ROBERT-HENRY BIGKNELL. 

